Banned militant groups were out in force again in Punjab. In Rawalpindi, a rally supposedly against ‘unconstitutional activities’ of Ahmadis turned into a demonstration of sectarian hate as speakers demanded that Ahmadis stop all religious activities including worshipping in their own properties. Participants sent a loud message of hate and violence as they waved the [...]
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- >> Ali Malik
- >> All Things Pakistan
- >> Anas Muhammad's Blog
- >>Brown Pundits
- >> Changing Up Pakistan
- >> Cyril Almeida
- >> Five Rupees
- >> Global Perspective Study for Pakistan
- >> Institute of Democracy and Development
- >> Journeys to Democracy
- >> Let's Rise Above!
- >> Let Us Build Pakistan
- >> Mosharraf Zaidi
- >>Pakistan Policy Blog
- >> Plastic Tears: An Insight
- >> Raza Rumi
- >> Sadiq Saleem
- >> Watandost
Archive for January 2012
Jan 27, 2012
Roti ki koi shehriat nahi hoti
Two items in the news this week should be dominating the discussion of current events. First is that 100 people in Lahore have now died from contaminated drugs. Adding insult to injury is that fact that, according to Punjab CM Shahbaz Sharif, the victims tended to be the poor who received the drugs for free. [...]
Jan 26, 2012
Pakistan’s First Oscar Nomination
It came as a surprise to me when I read this Dawn article yesterday talking about Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, journalist and documentarian, becoming the first ever Pakistani film maker to earn an Oscar nomination with her film ‘Saving Face’. Having gotten used to the clichéd and extremely average movies coming out of our very own [...]
Jan 23, 2012
How to eliminate foreign meddling in Pakistan
If there’s one thing that is virtually agreed upon across our politically divided nation it is that there is too much foreign meddling in Pakistan. Where people tend to disagree is on the details. Is the problem America’s war on terror? Or is it Wahhabi madrassas funded from the Gulf? Or is it secret Hindu-Zionist [...]
Jan 21, 2012
Memogate: Another contradiction? Time to wrap it up…
I would not dare to term Mansoor Ijaz as a bald faced liar. Mr Ijaz is an ultra-wealthy international businessman represented by attorney Akram Shiekh and the special guest of the Army for an appearance before the Supreme Court. That is not a hornets nest I want to find myself in the middle of. So [...]
Jan 20, 2012
Corruption, and the appearance of corruption
Corruption is well known to be a problem of society. Most complaints about corruption center around the illegitimate amassing of wealth by elites who use public office and public resources for their own personal gain. By reducing the amount of money available for public improvements, corruption of this sort does great harm to the country. [...]
Jan 19, 2012
No Country For Women
When Prophet Muhammad (SAW) delivered the gift of Islam, he brought a revolution in women’s rights. Women were to be respected in Islam. Women were to have rights. This was not only to be found in the teachings of Qur’an, but in the lessons of the Sunnah also. Prophet Muhammad’s (SAW) first wife Khadija was [...]
Jan 15, 2012
Oh no…I agree with The Nation
That’s right. Mark your calendars. Today may be a historic day. I agree (partly) with The Nation. The piece I am referring to, even more strangely it seems, is an editorial about drone strikes. What has changed my mind you ask? Nothing. Allow me to explain. When drone strikes resumed after being stopped following the [...]
Jan 12, 2012
Is the Judiciary really Independent?
One of the bedrocks of a democracy is the existence of an independent judiciary. Article 25 of the Constitution guarantees that “All citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal protection of law”. But is this actually the case? Or are some citizens given special preference, while others are treated as suspect before [...]
Jan 12, 2012
Threats to National Security
Dr Hasan Askari Rizvi, a prominent scholar and defence analyst, has an excellent piece in PakistanToday that provides important context for the memogate issue as part of a larger struggle for power between elected and unelected institutions. One of the main points of his piece, and one that I believe deserves more attention, is that [...]